Ministers to be named in new complaints procedure

Scottish ministers will be named as part of a change to the Scottish Government’s complaints procedure, Deputy First Minister John Swinney has announced.

Under the new procedures, ministers who are subject to complaints from civil servants will be named, with decision reports and judgments published in instances where complaints are fully or partially upheld.

Any reports published as a result of a complaint will be redacted to ensure the complainer cannot be identified, the Scottish Government said.

For those where the complaint is not upheld, a minister’s name and the outcome will be published for six months on the Scottish Government’s website.

Decisions made in complaint procedures which have already concluded will not be published, the Scottish Government has said.

“The First Minister advised the Scottish Parliament in June that the ministerial code and complaints procedure would be updated with regards to future complaints,” said John Swinney.

“The Scottish Government is determined to build a culture in which concerns are addressed early and in which all those who are involved with a complaint have confidence and can engage constructively and fairly in the process.”

The planned changes will come into effect by the end of the year.

In June, Nicola Sturgeon said she was not comfortable with the previous procedure and had instructed legal advisers to look at making the process more transparent.

Under the new procedure, the First Minister will be informed of a complaint about a current minister, including the name of the minister, at the outset of the process, while they will not be told the identity of a former minister who is the subject of a complaint.